Tax exemptions, industry rebates, and border tax adjustments can help protect the competitiveness of industries affected by a carbon tax, but they are not equally efficient at achieving economic and environmental goals. In the latest issue of Resources, RFF scholars Carolyn Fischer, Richard Morgenstern, and Nathan Richardson examine the issues.

RFF experts have developed several background memos on cap-and-trade and carbon tax systems to provide informative overviews and highlight current work, available data, and potential research limitations.

Preventing the release of “blue carbon” stored in mangroves, sea grasses, and salt marshes may be an effective way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. A new RFF report details the possibilities.

The United States is on course to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 16.3 percent from 2005 levels in 2020—despite a lack of comprehensive climate legislation. RFF Senior Fellow Dallas Burtraw and coauthor Matthew Woerman examine the factors contributing to this outcome.

RFF researchers look at how federal energy-related spending programs and tax provisions impacted US emissions of carbon dioxide between 2005 and 2009, finding a change toward reductions in emissions over that time period.

Protecting coastal mangrove forests may be a highly competitive, cost-effective approach for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent study by experts from RFF and the University of California, Davis.

In two new RFF discussion papers, Dallas Burtraw, David McLaughlin, and Sarah Jo Szambelan take a look at California’s pending cap-and-trade program, examining the implications of appropriating auction revenues, for the electricity sector and the state generally.

Implementing a carbon tax in the United States could help reduce the large and growing federal budget deficit as well as emissions of carbon dioxide. A new issue brief from RFF experts helps explain what policymakers could expect in terms of revenue.

With a portfolio of emissions reductions options available, pulling the proper policy lever can be tricky. New analysis suggests that energy efficiency standards don’t look that promising on economic grounds, either on their own or in combination with pricing instruments.